My gut tells me whichever minister implemented this law, he did not talk to the PM about it first.

S44 to be used to delay new labour law

"Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha will use his special power to delay for four months the enforcement of three sections of the new migrant labour law after it has caused a sudden shortage of labourers, according to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.".....

^ 21,828 Burmese workers have returned home just through the Mae Hong Son checkpoint as of Sunday, and since the new law was enacted. No word on how many have gone back through other checkpoints, or to Cambodia and Laos. Pete

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source

Thousands of Burmese migrant workers flee amid new labour rules
TENS of thousands of workers have fled Thailand, most of them for homes in neighbouring Burma (Myanmar), immigration officials said on Monday, after new labour regulations adopted by the military government sparked fear and panic among the migrant community.

Millions of workers from poor neighbours, such as Cambodia and Burma, form the backbone of Thailand‘s manual labour force, with industries such as the multi-billion-dollar seafood business heavily reliant on foreign workers.

Since taking power in a 2014 coup, Thailand‘s ruling junta has attained varying degrees of success in campaigns to regulate the foreign workforce, spurred partly by media reports that unregulated workers faced exploitation by employers.

About 60,000 workers left between June 23 and 28, and the number has risen since, an Immigration Bureau official said.

“They were of all nationalities, but the biggest group was from Myanmar (Burma),” Deputy Commissioner Pornchai Kuntee told Reuters. “They are probably very scared.”

Following news of the exodus, Thailand on Friday promised a 120-day delay in enforcing parts of the decree, including fines that can range up to 800,000 baht (US$23,557) for employers who hire unregistered foreign workers without permits.

BANGKOK – Fearful that Thailand's new labor rules will get them into trouble, tens of thousands of migrant workers are returning to neighboring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, causing hardship to themselves and their Thai employers.

Labor regulations that took effect June 23 could give foreign workers without proper permits up to five years in prison, while their employers could face fines of up to 800,000 baht ($23,500).

Officials and workers' advocates estimated Monday that roughly 30,000 workers have returned home since the rules took effect.

Thailand has about 2.6 million foreign workers, mostly from its poorer neighbors Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Half are estimated to be working illegally. Many work in low-paying or dangerous jobs that Thais are reluctant to take, in fields such as construction, farming and fishing.

Thailand's Labor Rights Promotion Network, a migrant rights advocate group, estimates that more than 30,000 workers have gone back home and that the number will keep increasing if the government does not come out with measures to reassure workers of their rights and safety.

Police Col. Man Ratanaprateep, based in the northern Thai province of Tak, which borders on Myanmar, said that as of Monday, more than 23,000 workers had crossed back to Myanmar at the province's Mae Sot checkpoint alone, but others may have gone back at unofficial crossings.

The regulations have caused the loss of 40,000 to 80,000 migrant workers from the construction industry, according to Suwat Liptapanlop, president of the Thai Contractors Association. He did not say how many workers left on their own, or how many were pushed out by nervous employers.

Deputy Prime Minister Pravit Wongsuwan told reporters that the government is likely to invoke Article 44 to extend the registration deadline. Article 44 of the constitution imposed by the military after it seized power in May 2014 gives the prime minister the authority to issue orders overriding any other branch of government to promote public order and unity.

The concerns of workers' advocates had a different focus.

"We found that many workers were told to leave, some without being paid, by their employers. Now, with such a massive outflow, the government is talking about the grace period," said Patima Tungpuchayakul of the Labor Rights Promotion Network, which is involved in the protection of migrant workers. "But the damage is already done. Poor migrant workers already are panicking and leaving the country. These are people who can't afford travel expenses or living without employment."

She noted that workers who left would face a new round of expenses should they seek to return to work legally, because they would have to come up with payment fees to employment agencies. This could force them to borrow money again, making their labor a way of paying off the debt, a cycle that is known as debt bondage.

"We are still discussing what we can do for these people who are coming back home to the country," said Myo Aung, a Labor Ministry official in Myanmar. "There are many of them coming in and I think there will be more."

Cambodia's embassy in Thailand issued a statement over the weekend urging Cambodian migrant workers to stay calm. It said the embassy and Labor Ministry officials were negotiating with Thai authorities, asking them not to crack down on sites where the Cambodian workers may be working illegally.

At least 1,000 Cambodians were reported to have returned home through eastern Thailand.

There was a mass exodus back home in 2014 of as many as 200,000 Cambodians working in Thailand after the newly installed junta in Bangkok announced plans to crack down on undocumented foreign workers and began deporting some after raids on worksites.

The numbers of those fleeing then swelled as unsubstantiated rumors circulated that Thai authorities had shot dead or beaten several Cambodian workers. Thai authorities denied the rumors and sought to quell concerns about a crackdown, adding that they had plans to systematize migrant labor.

Foreign staff crisis threatens rice target
The crackdown on foreign workers may cause Thai rice exports to drop below the target of 10 million tonnes this year, with many migrants who work in the industry leaving the country.

According to Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, shipments of Thai rice to other countries have been hit hard by a workforce shortfall following the announcement of the royal decree on the management of employment of migrant workers.

"We're now drastically short of workers who handle discharging goods at the ports, leaving a number of shipments stranded at the ports, which is causing delays," he said. "The issue, if unaddressed, may eventually affect the country's rice shipments which are otherwise in a good condition."

There are usually 30,000-40,000 foreign workers employed in Thailand's rice industry at any one time.

The Thais are struggling to figure out that they can't have it both ways despite issuing ill-thought-out decrees that no-one has discussed beforehand. Top-and-tail of it is that Thailand desperately needs migrant workers because the locals see much of this work as beneath them and there are few locals lining up to do this work.

But, on the other hand, you can't just make sweeping decrees and blame it on the foreigners whilst expecting to just chug along as normal without anything going astray plus gaining your coveted international face etc.

It's similar in California, and many other states in the US. The migrant labor force, much of it illegal, do field work, construction work, restaurant work, etc. California allows illegal aliens health benefits and drivers licenses but with Trump all is changing.

I have very mixed feelings, I have known many illegal aliens and they are mostly good people. There to work and provide for families back home, and they do, as Thailand is finding out, much of the scut work that citizens do not want to do. But my family, as well as my wife's and others, have immigrated legally and pay taxes.